Similar Economic Treaties And Attempts At Integration example essay topic

The European Union (EU) is by far the most advanced form of cooperation between independent sovereign countries today. Despite the great diversity in culture of its member states, in its integration the EU has established characteristics of a single state; its own parliament, justice system and a single market with one currency. The Europeans are the first to create this model where countries give up a part of their sovereignty to gain other benefits, but it is my opinion that as time progresses, and given that the EU model will prove itself, we will see more countries in different parts of the world integrating and forming similar unions. In order to form such alliances a nation-state must give up a part of its sovereignty, the right to control its own territory and be independent of any other state. Today, in the modern age of globalization, sovereignty is being challenged by a number of factors even without willingly sacrificing a part of it for the purpose of integration. The free market economy makes it possible for major companies to affect national economies very highly without the government being able to control it, for example if all foreign direct investment is pulled out of a specific country.

Other factors such as global communications, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and more also challenge the government's control of their territories. The awareness of international protection of human rights and humanitarian law is also an increasing factor in challenging sovereignty because it calls for international groups to intervene in domestic state affairs. Even though Krasner does not view this issue as an unprecedented challenge he gives the example of the Yugoslavian successor state which was forced to accept constitutional provisions guaranteeing minority rights in order to receive international recognition, thus proving that it does play a major role. The factors mentioned above are affecting the world's countries and there is not much they can do to prevent the loss of sovereignty.

This can influence countries to willingly give up a part of their sovereignty, which in fact is being nibbled away regardless, to integrate and at least benefit from their loss. There are several benefits which derive from integration. First, the integration and cross-national ties make it less likely that member states will go to war with one another. This is a major benefit for member states, especially in Europe where throughout history they were constantly at war with each other and at times with the whole world. Not fearing war has many economic affects as well. Imagine Israel integrating with its neighbors in the Middle East and can now reduce its security budget and allocate the funds to education or welfare.

Second, the pooling of political, economic and social powers gives the alliance much greater power then each member state individually. The pooling of political power creates a greater chance for the alliance to become a unified global actor which can influence global issues such as the US do today. The pooling of economic and social resources as well as a single market and freedom of cross-border movement allows the creation of a great economic power which can compete with the leaders of the global economy, the US and Japan. Finally, member states will always strive to improve and eventually resemble the leading member states in different fields. States can apply political pressure to bring about economic reforms in member states which are poorer.

They can also help by investing in the weaker countries. Member states may also be pressured in other fields such as social welfare or environmental protection. Even though there are many benefits to integrating there are also some costs to this loss of sovereignty. The member states are also loosing a part of their national independence and identity. The local government looses some of its powers to the creation of the central government which is detached from the interest and concerns of the member state's citizens.

The creation of a single market also poses threats to the local market due to increasing competition from other member states and the freedom of the people to migrate and work where they choose to. Finally, the removal of barriers of cross-border movement makes it much easier for drug trafficking and terrorist activities. Despite these factors and due to the growing interdependency of the world's actors not many countries resort to isolation; those that do, such as North Korea, find themselves in bad shape. Integration in Europe did not occur overnight.

It began as an economic treaty in the 1950's uniting six country's coal and steel industries to form the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). This economic treaty did so well that it attracted more countries and over time those countries began discussing other issues other than coal and steel. Eventually it evolved to the European Community and after increasing their cooperation and reaching further agreements it became the EU. Today we can already find similar economic treaties and attempts at integration such as the ECSC in different regions of the world. The basic idea of these treaties is similar to that which started the EU, to gain the benefits that were discussed in this paper. Some of these integration attempts are simple, meaning that leaders or ministers meet and make decisions together rather than individually, for example, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which began as an idea by Pres.

George Bush Sr. in 1990 to transform the whole American continent into a free trade zone. In 1994 the summit of the Americas, hosted by Pres. Bill Clinton, was held in Miami and was attended by 34 leaders of the continent. Trade ministers have been meeting regularly since then to decide an agenda for negotiation.

Other attempts are more advanced and achieved institutions and committees that have special powers and authority which affect all members. Such is the case with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). They established a basic organizational structure which is headed by the ASEAN Summit, the meeting of the member's leaders, and followed by ministerial bodies which are composed of the ministers of each member state in different fields ranging from finance to tourism. Krasner argues that integration is only possible in Europe because of the US political and financial support the Europeans received during the Cold War. In those days this argument was very true. International organizations which lacked US support, such as the League of Nations which was established after WWI, were quick to disassemble, but now that the EU is established that may not be so true.

Today the EU is capable of pooling a lot of money for certain causes and at times much more then the US. The European Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which consists of the EU and ten other countries, has earmarked 5.3 billion Euros for implementing the Barcelona Declaration while the US Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (B MENA) which basically serves the same purpose has earmarked only about 200 million dollars. This shows that today the EU has great influence in the global arena and can support other integration attempts in different regions of the world. In conclusion, the interdependency brought on by globalization is forcing states to cooperate with one another for mutual benefits even at the cost of the loss of sovereignty. Integration is becoming a popular method around the world for achieving peace, security, greater economic opportunities and general prosperity. Although we are not yet witnessing an integrated union as advanced as the EU we are seeing that countries around the world are starting to probe in that direction and engaging in economic cooperation.

The increasing influence of the EU in the global arena makes it possible that such integrations occur without US support. The factor that is keeping the other regional integrations from being as advanced as the EU is time.